Enfield Liberal Democrats

Sarah's bulletin: 26 March 2010

Dear friends,

Great victory for campaign against Heathrow 3rd runway

The High Court has today ordered the government to reconsider its environmentally irresponsible plans for a third runway at Heathrow. It ruled that the original decision was based on outdated evidence on the economic and environmental impact of the runway and that the government's decision was "untenable in law and common sense". In particular, the way of assessing the cost of carbon has changed since the government approved the third runway last January and the estimated economic benefits have therefore decreased. This is a great victory for, among others, LibDems in Richmond, both the council and Susan Kramer, MP for Richmond Park.

London air quality: EAC report and Commissioner Potočnik's reply to my letter

You may remember that in February, on the new Commission's first day in office, I took the opportunity, along with my London Liberal Democrat colleagues Ed Davey MP and Mike Tuffrey AM, to write to the new Commissioner for the environment, Janez Potočnik (you can read the full letter on my website here). In particular we highlighted the latest estimates that show that show that a lack of clean air in London is a major health hazard, causing up to 8,000 premature deaths per year. In addition we bought his attention to the fact that only six weeks in to 2010 new EU nitrogen dioxide annual quotas had been grossly exceeded in several central London locations.

In his response, which you can see here on my website, Potočnik states that the Commission is well aware of "the challenging air quality situation in London" and shares my objective of "delivering improved air quality for citizens in London". He confirms that he intends to take a "robust" approach to the enforcement of nitrogen dioxide air quality standards, and will only grant the UK a time extension on air pollution if the UK respects the limit values - maximum concentrations the UK has by some measures already breached!

This comes in the same week that the House of Commons' Environmental Audit Committee published its fifth report on air quality which demands that the government do more to prevent the 50,000 premature deaths a year in the UK from bad air quality. The health costs are estimated at between £8.5 and £20.2billion a year. The committee reiterated that London air quality is so bad that in the worst-affected areas it could be taking years of the lives of the people most at risk such as those with asthma.

Both these developments are yet further wake-up calls for a government that has until now ignored the problem.

David Cameron ums and ahs on gay rights and his MEPs' voting record

Do watch an interview the Gay Times conducted with David Cameron about gay rights and his MEPs' voting record in the European Parliament. (click here to watch on You Tube). It perfectly illustrates the shallow nature of the Tory party's so-called 'change' to a commitment to fundamental rights. I have been raising both in press releases and in letters to UK newspapers) the Tories' refusal last September to condemn an anti-gay 'Section 28' style law in Lithuania in a European Parliament vote. Although as I mentioned in my last bulletin a slightly improved version of the law came into force last week, the flavour of the original that prohibited any homosexual or bisexual 'propaganda' aimed at under-18s including sexual education for LGBT people, persists.

Cameron tried once to modernise the Conservative party's stance on gay rights by apologising for Margaret Thatcher's Section 28 law which prohibited schools from 'promoting' homosexuality and by voting in favour of civil partnerships. However, when asked now why his MEPs refused to condemn this similar law in Lithuania, he first professed ignorance of how the Tory delegation votes in the EP and then went on to suggest that these kinds of equality and fundamental rights issues should be subject to free votes for Tory parliamentarians! In other words, there is no real Tory commitment to human rights and equality - no wonder they want to abolish the Human Rights Act.

LibDem victory for 'wonky' fruit and veg

My colleague and Liberal Democrat MEP for Scotland, George Lyon, has successfully engineered the defeat of an attempt by Spanish MEPs to reinstate a former - and ludicrous - EU ban on sale of 'misshapen' - popularly known as 'wonky' - fruit and vegetables. This silly rule in the past has led to perfectly good produce being thrown away because it 'looked funny'. I believe in ensuring our food is safe to eat, but people have the right to choose for themselves whether they want to buy bendy bananas or crooked carrots. Although it is true that many British shoppers are hesitant when it comes to buying food that 'looks funny' - and supermarkets find themselves having to respond to this - banning wonky produce outright is wasteful and ridiculous. Shoppers should be able to choose.

You can read my 'crooked carrots' press release here.

Pressure mounts for anti-youth 'mosquito' devices to be abolished

The parliamentary assembly of the Council of Europe - which is composed of national MPs from 46 European countries and thus distinct from the EU and European Parliament - has recommended that the use of acoustic anti-youth 'mosquito' devices be prohibited. They emit an ultra high-pitched sound that adults cannot hear but which is unbearable for youths under 20. The devices are used to disperse unwanted young people in public places, and 3,500 of them are currently in use up and down the UK. As the committee's report states, the devices treat young people as if they were 'unwanted birds or pests' and their use amounts to degrading treatment, prohibited under the European Convention on Human Rights.

I wholeheartedly agree with this and several years ago put forward a written declaration in the European Parliament back in 2008 calling on the Commission to propose a ban. I was disappointed only to get fewer than 80 signatures from MEPs, but I think that was partly because the device was unknown in most - more civilised - EU countries. Liberal Democrats at Spring conference two weeks ago also called for these detestable machines to be abolished, in our 'Free to be Young' youth policy paper. that I really do get fed up when young people are treated as if the whole lot of them were just a nuisance, instead of our future. Of course some cause trouble, and it is hard work to find effective ways to stop that. But treating all of them like vermin is disgraceful and discriminatory and will only make things worse in the longer term.

'Naked' bodyscanners

You may have seen the story in The Sun this week where a Heathrow security officer was disciplined for sneakily looking at one of his female colleagues, who had accidentally stepped into one of these now infamous 'naked' bodyscanners, and then taunting her with "I love those gigantic t**s!". The officer has now been given a formal warning for harassment and may lose his job. I hate to say 'I told you so', but it was only a matter of time... this is the kind of abuse that I warned about when technology to produce naked images of people is introduced! And - unlike in the United States - the Home Secretary refused to allow an option at UK airports for passengers to choose a physical pat-down instead.

We are waiting for a European Commission report due in April, about the privacy and health impact of these scanners. I asked the Commission in a recent parliamentary question to pledge that they body scanners should have no facility to store, record or transfer images, as this is the only sure way of ensuring that the pictures do not illegally find their way onto the internet. The Commission's reply assures me that their impact assessment will include "fundamental rights, in particular data protection and human dignity" and that the conditions of using body scanners could include "limited storage facilities strictly excluding any use or recuperation of the image once the passenger has been cleared". We will see next month how convincing the Commission full response is to the Parliament's privacy.

Educating young people about the EU: with a TB pandemic?

To mark world TB day this week, the UK Office of the European Parliament has been highlighting its work done through the Euro-academy to find new and innovative ways to educate schoolchildren about the EU institutions. In this latest project, called 'Crisis Point', students act out the roles of ordinary citizens, members of the European Parliament and European Commissioners and work out what the EU institutions could do to respond to a (fictional!) highly contagious new strain of TB. If you're a teacher and you're interested, you can find out more here.

A tribute to Islington councillor Donna Boffa

One of our LibDem councillors here in Islington, Donna Boffa, sadly passed away late last week, at a distressingly young age, after a long battle with cancer. I knew Donna well from my days as an Islington councillor, from long before she was elected in 2003 as we did not overlap on the Council, and she was a stalwart campaigner who contributed a lot to local LibDem success. I and my husband Steve Hitchins, a former Islington council leader, want to join current leader Cllr Terry Stacey in expressing very sincere condolences to her friends and family, especially of course her children - our thoughts are with them. Donna never tired in her work in Islington for young people and those on benefits. She will be sorely missed.

Vince on Channel 4 on Monday

The hard work of Donna and so many others across the country have helped get the party to the level of success we are now enjoying. One of our stars is of course our shadow Chancellor Vince Cable, and next Monday will see the first of the televised election debates when Vince faces Alistair Darling and George Osborne at 8pm on Channel 4. Following a busy Budget week, now is the time to see the mettle of the 'three Chancellors' head-to-head.

Best regards,

Sarah Ludford